Sean Belanger, CEO of CSDVRS, LLC (ZVRS) has written a letter to the FCC laying out the situation of Sorenson’s practices as it pertains to interoperability-especially as it relates to videomail and address book porting. (link to letter)

In protest, ZVRS is asking deaf consumers with Sorenson devices to use ZVRS or any other provider when making VRS calls. To use ZVRS, dial 888-888-1116 from your Sorenson device and you will be able to make VRS calls.

Let’s hope the FCC will do something about this. Hearing people do not have interoperability issues with ATT, Verizon, etc.

You can file a complaint with the FCC on these practices. (link to file complaint)

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!).

Or dial 888-888-1116 from your Sorenson device to see how great our interpreters are!

Thank for for listening.

It is time for us to have our freedoms back once and for all.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z (Philip Bravin) is currently the Vice-President of Business Development at CSDVRS, LLC.

On November 25, 2013, ZVRS met with FCC to lay interoperability issues on the table as it concerns Sorenson.

Everyone can leave videomail messages on their videophones EXCEPT Sorenson.

We CANNOT get address book lists from Sorenson devices when people switch providers via a port.

Sorenson has been doing this for years. They get public money and still do practices that do not promote the public interest–that is freedom of communication and access for deaf and hard of hearing people-this was the intent of the ADA–the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Sorenson is doing practices that do not promote freedom of communication among deaf and hard of hearing people. This is not proper–ATT, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint for hearing people do not do things that border on fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD), while we deaf and hard of hearing people use a service that gets public money deal with fear, uncertainty and doubt by limiting our freedoms.

We implore the FCC to act on this.

You can read ZVRS’ filing. (link)

You can file a complaint with the FCC on these practices. (link)

By the way, if you need video communication (VP or VRS), why not try Z5, you will like it! Click here to get it! (See if you qualify to get a FREE tablet with a stand!).

Or dial 888-888-1116 from your Sorenson device to see how great our interpreters are!

Thank for for listening.

It is time for us to have our freedoms back once and for all.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z (Philip Bravin) is currently the Vice-President of Business Development at CSDVRS, LLC.

On Monday, June 10, 2013 the FCC after several years of study, issued an order and proposed new rules regarding how VRS should be structured and managed. The order and proposed rules run over 100 pages of fine print. Dr. Z took the opportunity to read through the document.

It has some good things and some things that require further thought and discussion.

Basically, it makes it possible and better for smaller VRS companies to be able to compete in today’s unbalanced VRS playing field, with Sorenson dominating 80% of the market. The more competition we have, the better VRS will be for deaf and hard of hearing consumers. But some of the rules have cause for concern. The FCC is going to give some work on VRS to third parties. We must be sure those third parties have insights and expertise on the deaf and hard of hearing community and be sensitive to cultural and communication issues. Dr. Z will look into this some more in the next few weeks and express his thoughts.

BOTTOM LINE: VRS is here to stay. The FCC has a mandate under the ADA to insure deaf and hard-of-hearing citizens have functionally equivalent communication access.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z (Philip Bravin) is currently the Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach at CSDVRS, LLC.

The deaf community and the FCC are confused.

Sorenson is telling the FCC to please not cut rates or VRS will never be the same.

That’s because Sorenson is creating this mess.

While crying to the FCC not to cut rates and at the same time, behind the FCC’s back, Sorenson is giving away iPad’s, laptops and TV’s to consumers in an attempt to port them back. This has nothing to do with functional equivalence, but a pure attempt to steal customers from other providers. The other providers have no choice but to try to do those things to keep their customers. This giveaway is costing Sorenson money and at the same time, they’re telling the FCC not to cut rates–this is in effect using public money to subsidize the free equipment they’re throwing away at customers. Does this make sense?

The whole thing is insane–this has nothing to do with VRS as a service. Dr. Z hopes the FCC is listening. Public money for VRS needs to focus on VRS as a service–certified interpreters, quick answer time and interoperability should be the focus, not free stuff.

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z is currently the Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach at CSDVRS, LLC.

When hearing people call other hearing people and they can’t answer right away, it goes to their voice mail. It doesn’t matter if its AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. Anyone can leave voicemail.

For us deaf people, we can’t leave videomail on Sorenson devices if we use a non-Sorenson device. All the other providers except Sorenson can leave messages without problems. Sorenson is preventing us all from being equal with hearing people or making us second class citizens. This is not functionally equivalent. All ZVRS phones and software can receive and leave messages without problems, but we can’t leave messages on Sorenson devices.

The FCC has received complaints on this and let us hope they’re listening and doing something to make Sorenson do so.

Thanks for listening.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z is currently the Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach at CSDVRS, LLC.

The FCC is going to issue some orders and some new processes related to VRS any day soon.

Providers and consumers have been knocking on the FCC’s door to present their cases and mitigate any effect the new orders and processes may have on VRS as a service as we know it. This is like a ping pong game, with people looking at the ball going back and forth–VRS reform is going to happen, like it or not. The last thing we want to happen is to have it change VRS as we know and appreciate it.

Bottom line–the rules must dictate what is best for the consumer. What does this mean?

–freedom of choice of devices, without getting stuck with a device that one cannot use or communicate with other devices
–freedom of choice of software, with address books being portable (able to move) from one provider to another
–freedom of obstruction–without worrying if a call gets blocked, gets a black screen (full interoperability)
–freedom to make a call anywhere, anytime
–freedom of being tied to a remote control unit
–freedom of choice of providers, picking the provider that provides the best features and interpreters

This is ZVRS’s position-meaning you can go into a store and get the device you want and go ahead and make a call with a provider that has the best interpreters and features, so easy, so simple. Why go through the hassle of having a provider set it up for you and have them control what features and what you want on your device. This is a free country–we are FREE people, we should do what we want, not what others tell us what we should do!

Heres a link to the FCC’s postings–read on–(link)

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z is currently the Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach at CSDVRS, LLC.

As always, Dr. Z likes to put up thoughts for holidays..this is something Dr. Z clipped fron an unattributed source on the web…here’s wishing you a nice thanksgiving from Dr. Z and his colleagues at ZVRS…

Thanksgiving is a perfect time to stop for a moment once a year and remember to give thanks. It’s a time to be grateful for one’s health, family, friends, job, home and having food on the table.

Take a few moments as you read through this lens and to share what you will be giving thanks for this Thanksgiving.

We will be taking a few moments with our family to give thanks and say our “Gratefuls” before eating, as a reminder of all that we have to be grateful for, the good and the not so good.

Remember “In all things, give thanks.”

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z is currently the Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach at CSDVRS, LLC.

The FCC has issued a public notice for changes to the VRS program. The changes are not in place yet. The FCC is asking for comments before they decide on the changes. Some of the suggested changes are major and one of them involves a rate reduction.

Wow! The Public Notice from the FCC has generated a lot of discussion via email and social media like Facebook. This is a healthy scenario. Rarely has such a matter on public policy generated a lot of dialogue in the deaf and hard of hearing community. But there lies the danger of some parties trying to mislead or distort the message. One website (www.savemyvrs.com) seems to be neutral representing all VRS companies, but it is backed by Sorenson. The whois lookup for the ISP indicates that the owner of the domain is Sorenson:

Another website claiming to be neutral is vrsca.org.  While the whois does not indicate it is Sorenson-related, the ISP is located in Utah:

It is common knowledge that VRSCA is funded by Sorenson.  While the domain name “vrsca.org” seems to indicate it is a non-profit organization, a lookup on guidestar.com does not bring up VRSCA or Video Relay Services Consumer Association.  Doing a Google search on VRSCA, there are no hits when it comes to organization headquarters, nor does it have a Board of Directors or the like.  It is not a separate organization; rather it is an arm of some organization, Sorenson in this case.   (Disclaimer:  I have some very good friends who are part of VRSCA–this is in no way a personal affront on you folks, but merely pointing out the association between VRSCA and Sorenson. I still love you folks on a personal level.)

Both Sorenson and VRSCA have embarked on an offensive disparaging the FCC public notice, trying to influence deaf and hard of hearing people to follow their party line.

While Dr. Z has some concerns about the notice, he feels the public needs to discuss this matter among themselves and decide what is best for the when it comes to VRS.  The bottom line in all of this is “functional equivalence”–meaning what hearing people get in the way of their communication needs, we deaf and hard of hearing people legally must have those.  What is the cost of functional equivalence?  What are the parameters of functional equivalence? To use an example–speed of answer.  The FCC mandates 80% of all calls must be answered in 120 seconds measured monthly.  If they cut rates too much, providers need to cut interpreters, then this increases the possibility of not meeting the answer time requirement.  Where is the line between rates and functional equivalence?  I think this is the crux of the ongoing discussion.  VRS providers, of course need to realize a profit margin to create innovation and enhance features that promote functional equivalence.

Deaf and hard-of-hearing people like hearing people also need a functionally equivalent market.  When hearing people go into a phone store (ATT, Verizon, etc.) they see 50-100 phones in front to choose from.  Deaf and hard-of-hearing people should have the same choice, not being locked into one or two. Those phones do not have to be specially designed for video calls.  The software inside those phones can do a lot of wonderful and great things. (Dr. Z has been developing software since he attended college-45-50 years ago, that’s how old Dr. Z is. ) Dr. Z understands the power of software and he’s still developing software to this day.

We need a functionally equivalent service and a functionally equivalent market.  This should be the objective of the FCC’s Public Notice. And rates should be sensitive to the concept of functional equivalence.

Let the dialogue continue.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z is currently the Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach at CSDVRS, LLC.

What is “interoperability”?

It means for VRS that “devices from different vendors and providers work with each other.”

Gallaudet’s Technology Access Program did some research and made a presentation at the recent NAD conference. In doing the research, they set up a lab and did over 800 calls between devices from all VRS providers. Some VRS providers were better than others and Dr. Z has included a link to part of their presentation below:

Excerpt of NAD Presentation on Interoperability (summary-brief document)

Full Version NAD Presentation on Interoperability (technical-huge document)

We understand that the FCC has looked into this issue and it is Dr. Z’s hope that all VP’s (videophones) will be able to communicate with other VP’s like hearing people have with their cell phones.

Dr. Z cares about your communication access.

Disclaimer: Dr. Z is currently the Vice-President of Business Development and Outreach at CSDVRS, LLC.